Economy & poverty

Gender gaps in agriculture in Africa are holding back progress towards ending hunger and must be urgently addressed, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's Director-General José Graziano da Silva said at a joint event with the African Union (AU) on the margins of the UN General Assembly.

UNHCR is expanding cash-based assistance so that the millions of people that it serves can meet their needs in dignity, are protected and can become more resilient. Taking a bank card to a cash machine in Beirut, Syrian widow Manar Al Sayer taps in a PIN and withdraws a few Lebanese pounds.

Fishing has traditionally sustained communities in the Lake Chad Basin area, supporting nearly 30 million people living along its shores in Chad, but also Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger. However, the once huge lake which covered 250,000 km2 has now shrunk to one tenth of its original size, largely due to unsustainable water management and the corrosive effects of climate change. With fish now more scarce, and fisherfolk needing to travel further to find them, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has stepped in to offer support.

In Niger, the Diffa Region bordering Nigeria is home to more than 300,000 refugees who have been driven from their homes by massacres, abduction and rape by Boko Haram militants. Women and children are 70 per cent of displaced persons, and have experienced widespread sexual violence.

This video shows how the members of the FAO-Dimitra Clubs in Niger and DR Congo have succeeded in improving their livelihoods and highlights the momentum they have created at community level. The video also explores the collaborations between the clubs and other development actors, such as rural institutions.

This video shows how Dimitra Clubs play an important role in helping women gain self-confidence and in building their capacities to become leaders in their communities. "Women Leaders" is part of a series that illustrates the impact of Dimitra Clubs, a successful gender-transformative approach developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

To celebrate International Women's Month as well as the 2016 African Union Year of Human Rights, staff at the Zero Hunger Challenge Blog sat down with Tacko Ndiaye, Senior Gender Officer in the Gender Equity and Rural Development Division at FAO, to talk about the future of women's rights and empowerment in the Zero Hunger movement, and how zero hunger can advance gender equality.

This five-minute video shows how the FAO Dimitra Clubs in Niger have been crucial in ensuring women's access to land and water, while contributing to nutrition, food security, gender equality and reducing rural poverty at the same time.

This six-minute video shows how the FAO Dimitra Clubs in Niger have been crucial to ensure women's access to land and water, while contributing to nutrition, food security and gender equality, thereby reducing rural poverty. The transformative approach of the Dimitra Clubs induces behavioral changes in various aspects of daily life for individuals, households and communities in rural areas.